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A lovely themed car from Hot Wheels that carries the Toy Story theme well.

My sons have been fans of the Toy Story franchise for over 4 years since they first saw my nephew playing with some figures he owned. Since that point in time, other interests have come and gone, but there love of Toy Story had continued. Over the years, I have tried to indulge the interest without just buying action figures as I like to encourage different types of play.

A couple of christmas times ago, I had bought my eldest a themed Hot Wheels track from Toy Story One, featuring the loop the loop track Buzz uses to prove he can fly. While I was browsing amazon, I then noticed that Hot Wheels did a whole range of cars that were designed to look like characters from the franchise. I immediately loved the cleverness to the range, so I couldn't resist buying some of the cars for my youngest son that Christmas as he was around 3 and a half years old at the time, and just getting into the age where he was less clumsy with his toys.

This particular car is designed to look like one of the new characters, Chunk. In the film, Chunk is an action figure who is yellow in colour and looks a bit like a rock. His body is covered in lumpy projections to give that impression. Another prominent feature to this figure is his face - his head has a section on a roller which spins round showing either a happy or grumpy face as the child playing with him sees fit. We already had a figure of Chunk and he was popular, so I couldn't resist getting them a baddy to play with.

This toy chunk vehicle tries to stay true to the features chunk has. It is the same colour as him, and there are bumpy projections on the roof of the cab and the silver engine on the rear. As wekk as this, the grill section features a roller that shows either a silver smile or a frown. I thought this was a lovely nod to the original character.

The cost of this vehicle is between £4-5 depending on what prices are available when you buy, although I have to say, I don't know what prices are like elsewhere as I have never seen them anywhere else. I haven't really looked though, so don't know if that means that they aren't available elsewhere.

For this, you get a vehicle that is 1:64 scale to a real car, made from diecast metal and a tough plastic chassis. The vehicle is not overly heavy, but has a decent weight to it when in your hand. The vehicle has not worn in a couple of years of play - it shows no signs of chipping to the paintwork or damage to the wheels. I think all Hot Wheels branded cars are very high quality. This car will run on all the Hot Wheel tracks we own, as it is the same size as their other cars. My sons have as much fun playing with this on their fisher price toy garage as they do pushing it along a track or across our floor. Like any toy car, it runs better on laminate flooring or tiles rather than on thick carpet.

Overall, my sons have had a lot of fun with the cars they own in this range. It is nicer to have a few of them, and I think the branding here is very suitable for fans of Toy Story and has been done in a very clever way so it is very clear even to a young fan who the car is meant to represent. A definite keeper in our toy car collection.